LCD Electronics

Theory of Operation

Week 1
14-Sept-2018

1
Contact
Information:

Dick McCartney
mccartney.dick@gmail.com

USA 831-419-8376

2
 Biographical Sketch
• Pixel Scientific
– CEO/CTO
• Samsung Display
– Director of Technology Creation and Sensing
• National Semiconductor
– CTO for Display Technology
• Involved in display R&D since 1980
• Pioneered Several Key LCD Technologies
– overdrive response time compensation
– dual sub-pixel, wide viewing angle technology
– brightness enhancement arrays
– new driving architectures
• SID Fellow
• Active in SID (Past General Chair)
• Many Industry Seminars 3
Class Time Conversion

before 11/1 after 11/1

In 2015, daylight savings time in the USA ends on November 1

4
Week Date
Syllabus
Topic
1 9-18 Introduction / LC Physics Part 1 – Physical
2 9-25 LC Physics Part 2 – LCD modes
3 10-2 LCD as a electrical circuit
4 10-9 LCD as a electrical circuit (No Class Korea)
5 10-16 TFT operation and active matrix operation
6 10-23 Row Driver and CD operation
7 10-30 CD operation Part 1
8 11-6 CD operation Part 2
9 11-13 Midterm
10 11-20 CD operation Part 3
11 11-27 Voltage errors on LCDs
12 12-4 CD operation and polarity inversion
13 12-11 Row signal propagation/Gamma Operation
14 12-18 Color Science in Displays
(Final Exam KHU)
15 12-25 Final Exam (Taiwan)

5
 Reference Books
E.B. Priestley, P. Wojtowicz, P. Sheng, "Introduction to Liquid
Crystals", Plenium Press, New York, 2e editie, 1979

P.G. de Gennes, J. Prost, "The Physics of Liquid Crystals",

Oxford Science Publications, second edition, Clarendon press
Oxford, 1993
E. Leuder, "Liquid Crystal Displays: addressing schemes and
electro-optical effects", John Wiley & Sonc inc., 2001

Bahadur, B. (Ed.). Liquid Crystals: Applications and Uses, Vol. 1.

Singapore: World Scientific, 1990-.
Bahadur, B. (Ed.). Liquid Crystals: Applications and Uses, Vol. 2.
Singapore: World Scientific, 1990-.
Bahadur, B. (Ed.). Liquid Crystals: Applications and Uses, Vol. 3.
Singapore: World Scientific, 1990-.

6
 Display Panel

Gamma
Vcom
Timing Reference Ref
Data In Voltages
Controller

Column Drivers

Row Drivers
Multi-Source
Power DC/DC Display
In Converter
& LDO

7
 Thermotropic Liquid Crystals
Thermotropic LC molecules are characterized as
having rigid heads, usually benzene rings,
attached to long polymer, flexible tails.

Rigid Head Flexible Tail

H H H H
C C C C H H H H H

N C C C C C C C C C C H

C C C C H H H H H

H H H H

Example of a nematic LC (4’-n-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl)

8
Liquid Crystal Nematic Order
free
az Nematic Order:
• Free to translate in
bound x,y and z directions
free
• Free to rotate about
the major (director)
ax free axis
director axis • Restricted rotation
of the director axis
bound

ay
free

9
 Anisotropic Dielectrics
Electric field parallel
to molecule Electric field perpendicular p az
to molecule

Smaller 
-
p + - p ax
Large 
+ p

p without an E field p ay
Anisotropic dielectrics polarize differently in different axes. Their net polarization is
the 3-dimensional vector sum of the orthogonal polarization moments with respect
to the applied E-vector. In general, the polarization moment does not align with the
E-vector or carry the same magnitude in differing E vector directions.

10
 Dielectrics of Nematic Order
Dielectric Property
perpendicular-2 perpendicular

parallel parallel
perpendicular-1 director axis director axis

Nematic Order reduces a 3-dimensional dielectric property to two dimensions.

perpendicular-1 + perpendicular-2
perpendicular = Due to spin about the
2 director axis.

11
 Anisotropic to Isotropic
behavior with Temperature
At cold temperatures, the molecules
At cold temperatures, the molecules
wiggle less and the effective
wiggle less and the effective
dielectric anisotropy () is large
9 dielectric anisotropy () is large
At and above the clearing
At and above the clearing
temperature, order breaks down
8 temperature, order breaks down
and the material becomes isotropic
and the material becomes isotropic
().
().
7

5
4

3
At warmer
2 At warmer
temperatures, the
temperatures, the
effective  is
effective  is
1 reduced.
reduced.

0
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2

The Order Parameter 12

 Torque Depends on VRMS
F|| =q||E T = 2[(½·d||)·q||·E·sin()]-2[(½·d┴)·q┴·E·cos()]
F┴=q┴E
T = [d||·q|| E sin()]-[d┴·q┴ E cos()]

T = [p||·E sin()]-[p┴·E cos()]
d┴
d|| p|| = d||·q|| = ||·o·E·cos()
p
p┴ = d┴·q┴ = ┴·o·E·sin()
F┴=q┴E
r = e+ 1

F|| =q||E T = [|| o E cos() E sin()]-[┴  o E sin() E cos()]

RMS dependency
Temperature dielectric anisotropy
dependency 13
Diagram of the LCD Optics
nslow Birefringent LC layer
polarizer
polarizer
Attenuated
Amplitude

nfast

Rotated Plane
of Polarization
14
Dynamic Capacitance

Clow Chigh

15
 LCD Model

VLC CLC CLC CLC V

CLC min

VLC2

R
C

Vth2 V2 V2

16
 Alternating Voltage Drive

V
Normally-White
Operation
Alternatingpolarity
Alternating polarityisisused
usedtotokeep
keep
theaverage
the averagevoltage
voltagevalue
valueacross
across
theLC
the LCatatzero.
zero. This
Thisprevents
prevents
Brightness

electroplatingofofion
electroplating ionimpurities
impuritiesininthe
the
liquidcrystal
liquid crystalonto
ontothetheelectrodes.
electrodes.
Electroplatingofofcontaminants
Electroplating contaminantsisisaa
majorsource
major sourceofofimage
imageretention
retention
(stickingimage).
(sticking image).

RMS Voltage
17
Cone Wavelength Sensitivity

18
Additive Color Theory Used in
Self-luminous Displays

19
TFT Physical Layout Example
Part of previous
Gate Bus
Source
Bus
Drain

Part of previous
Gate Bus

Gate
Bus

a-Si &
SiNx
20
HSPICE model of a-Si TFT
Level 61 RPI a-Si TFT model (Log scale)
Comparison with 6 different transistors

Simulation Result
Square-Red line

21
 Macro Electrical Model of the
LCD Panel
Column
Drivers
Row
Drivers

Vcom
Driver

22
Gate and Source Voltages
Select
Select
Voltage
Voltage
Gate Bus Voltage
ON
ON

ValidSource
Valid Source
BusRange
Bus Range

OFF
OFF
De-Select
De-Select
Voltage
Voltage
Row Select Time
23
 Vcom Compensation
V
An Equivalent
Circuit Vgate Vsource

Clc Cstore
Cgd Vcom
Gate Bus Voltage

Translated Source Bus Voltage

Vgate Vsource

Clc Cstore
Vcom

24
Classic Direct Drive
“High Voltage” or Dot Inversion Driver

Vgate

Column Driver

Vcom Op-Amp
25
Typical Gamma Curve

26
 Offset Error
When there is a offset error riding on the drive voltage…
2 2 2 2 2 2
V1 V2 ... VN V1  1
V2  2
... VN  N
V rms V rms
N N

When the gray level is constant Veven = -Vodd

2 2
(V  ) ( V  ) 2 2
V rms V rms V 
2

Vin


27
 What does it mean to be
uniformly gray?

Campbell and
Robson (1968) show
that we can observe
our own visual acuity
through this two-
dimensional image
stimulus.

Sinusoidal grating swept in frequency horizontally and decreasing contrast vertically

28
Human Visual System Contrast
Sensitivity
1.0 1.00:1

0.9 1.11:1

0.8 1.25:1

0.7 1.43:1

Contrast Ratio
0.6 1.67:1

0.5 2.00:1
CSF

0.4 2.50:1

0.3 3.33:1

0.2 5.00:1

0.1 10.00:1

0.0 infinite
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Spatial Frequency [cycles/degree]

29
 Gamma 2.2
Television System L0.45
L1.1
L L0.45
TV

Broadcast
Original Camera Transmitter
Image
Viewer

L L0.45 L1.125 L
L (x)0.45 (x)2.5 (x)0.88 L
Camera TV (CRT) Human LCDspresenting
LCDs presenting0.45
0.45
Visual codedvideo
coded video(e.g.
(e.g.
System
MPEG) must provide aa
MPEG) must provide
2.5power
2.5 powerfunction
function
transfercharacteristic
transfer characteristic

30
Color Temperature
Examples of
differing
gains for
RGB
primaries
needed to
D65 (nom) adjust for
color
temperature

There are a number

of temperatures
(white references) E
that are of interest
to industry
professionals,
The Black Body Curve is D6500 being the
the locus of colors that white of the mid-
a heated object emits day sun and the
with temperature reference for NTSC
C

31
Pixel Inversion
Frame 1
+-+-+-

-+-+-+
Frame 2
-+-+-+

+-+-+-
32
The Timing Controller (TCON)

Gamma
Vcom
Timing Reference Ref
Data In Voltages
Controller

Column Drivers

Row Drivers
Multi-Source
Power DC/DC Display
In Converter
& LDO

33
 6-bit LVDS Interface
HSYNC HSYNC
VSYNC VSYNC
DE DE
Red Data [5:0] Red Data [5:0]

Green Data [5:0] Green Data [5:0]

Blue Data [5:0] Blue Data [5:0]

CLK CLK

Graphics IC / Card TCON

34
 TFT-LCD Module Diagram

Gamma
Vcom
Timing Data Link Reference
Reference
Data In Voltages
Controller

Column Drivers
Row Drivers

Multi-Source
DC/DC Display
Converter
& LDO

35
 Gen 1 …TTL

TCON Up to XGA (1024 x 768)

CD CD CD CD CD CD CD CD

36
Differential Receivers
Differential receivers add the advantage of rejecting
common mode noise.

CD 1 CD 2

37
Transmission Line Theory
Reference: AN-905
A hypothetical experiment…
v Continuous to infinity
i

When the switch is closed as shown above, a current will flow.

Since the value of the distributed L and C is constant along the infinite length
of the line, the current will be constant.

Since the voltage, v, and current, i, are constant, the infinite line appears as a
resistor to the battery. The apparent resistance is called the characteristic
impedance, Zo

When the line is not infinite it will appear to be if it is terminated with a

resistance equal to its characteristic impedance.

38
Pair-pair Coupling Produces
Data Dependent Distortions.
When pairs are not separated
by at least 2s, a data dependant
coupling occurs.

If the voltage on the opposite

wire is moving opposite or
remains stationary with respect
to the first, there is an effective
change in Zo for one of the two
wires creating an unbalanced
differential pair.

If the voltages are moving in the

same direction, there is no
effective change in Zo.

39
DVI and SVGA connectors

40
 LC Orientation is a Balance
of Competing Torques
Restoring
Torque F RESTORING TORQUE
depends only on the
molecular position. It cannot
be externally controlled.

FIELD INDUCED TORQUE

depends on the molecular
position and the square of
the applied field.
F Field
Induced
Torque
41
Orthogonal Color Channels

The full color image can be thought of as

composed of separate RGB images overlaid.

42
 Reducing Bandwidth of an
image - Example 2
1 A
Filtered Result (f) = H(f) x image(f)
0 0
f f

image(x) = A sin(2fs(x)] x)

filtered result (x)

43
HDTV/DTV
Overview

HDTV/DTV MPEG2 Transport

...packets with header/descriptors enable flexiblility and features...
Many services can be dynamically multiplexed and delivered to the viewer
video TEXT video audio 1 video video audio 2 video video PGM GD video

188 Byte Packet

184 Byte Payload (incl. optional Adaptation Header)

Video Adaptation Header

(variable length)
4 Byte
Packet Header Time synchronization
Media synchronization
Packet sync Random access flag
Type of data the packet carries Bit stream splice point flag
Packet loss/misordering protection
Encryption control
Priority (optional)

44
Source:Sarnoff Corporation
De-interlacing of film-
originated material
Without Film Mode

With Film Mode

45
The End

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